Orihime's Attempt At Confession
by alqui
Summary: She didn't need to seduce Ichigo. What she needed was to gather whatever courage she had and confess to him. The very same courage that had eluded her for years because of her fear of rejection. And that was what Orihime did.


**AN :** Here I am, with my entry for the Dreaming Inventions contest. The topic was to write two characters from any manga/anime of our choice going on a date. One character must be one that the writer loves, and the other must be one that the writer hates.

I chose Ichigo and Orihime. Orihime is a good character and I like her, but when it comes to ships, there is hardly one that I detest more than IchiHime.

This is not meant to be insulting to any IchiHime fan. Everyone has their own preferred pairing, and while I respect your choice, it does not mean that I have to like it.

I tried to make it a good fic. It would be shameful as a writer if I let my hate get in the way. If I am writing this, then at least I should write it well so that IchiHime fans get another fic to read. But be warned, the characters may be OOC. This is my first fanfic focused on romance. My other story was an original one shot and the romance was more of a side thing.

* * *

"Tatsuki-chan! Let's go for a movie today! I I won tickets at the lottery!" Orihime said in her usual bubbly manner. The pretty girl skipped over to where her best friend and long time crush were working on their homework. Well, Tatsuki was, and Ichigo was helping her.

"Sorry Orihime, I can't make it. Sensei will kill me if I don't this done by tomorrow." Tatsuki quickly apologised mournfully. This homework crap was boring, a movie would have been good. Damn homework for getting in the way. Ah~ The joys of being a student.

Orihime visibly wilted ( Tatsuki swears that mushrooms popped out of her head ). "Such a shame that the tickets would go to waste…" Now, Tatsuki might not have been very good at studying, but she did have a devious mind. And everyone except strawberry could see what a large crush the cheerful girl had on him.

"Who said that the tickets have to go to waste? Ichigo here can fill in for me."

Said boy looked up in surprise. "Huh? Oi, don't go volunteering someone else," he barked out. But then took one look at the even more dejected Orihime and let out a long suffering sigh. "Tch. Fine, fine, but just this once. Do you hear me Tatsuki!?"

* * *

Orihime hardly paid any attention to the movie. Instead, her gaze was on the handsome orange strawberry sitting next to her who thankfully didn't notice her staring at him, too engrossed in the movie ( strange, she had not pegged Ichigo for the romance fan ).

An inner voice that suspiciously sounded that Tatsuki whispered her to use this chance to 'seduce him'. She was sure that her face was bright red at the moment.

How does one go around seducing boys?

Wait. She didn't need to seduce Ichigo. What she needed was to gather whatever courage she had and confess to him. The very same courage that had eluded her for years because of her fear of rejection.

Orihime laughed bitterly in her mind. Forget rejection, this relationship will not go anywhere unless she confesses. She had waited and waited for the boy to notice her, but it never seemed that he saw her as anything but a friend.

After the movie then. Yes, she has waited so long, she can wait an hour more.

* * *

Ichigo walked alongside Orihime, the two teenagers simply enjoying their ice-cream. He snuck a glance at Orihime. The carefree girl was unusually quiet today, and this made him worried. Orihime being sombre just felt...wrong. The girl was the sun that lit up the life of everyone she associated with.

So lost was he in his thoughts that he did not notice that Orihime had stopped walking until she called out to him. He flushed a bit and walked back to where she was standing, determination in every line of her body.

Orihime took a deep breath to steady her chaotic thoughts. "Ku-Kurosaki-kun, I l-l-lo…" She can't do it. Can't say those three simple words that would either make or break her relationship with Ichigo. But she can't back out now. No. Today, Ichigo will know what she thinks of him.

Well, actions speak louder than words.

Next thing Orihime knew, she was kissing Ichigo. And after a few moments of shock, he was kissing her back. Ichigo Kurosaki, kissing her!

The two reluctantly pulled away when the need for air became too great. Ichigo's face looked like a tomato, but it had a giddy smile. Orihime knew that her own face must be looking the same.

"So you feel the same way as I feel towards you? Do you love me?"

"Of course. And I thought that you were smart."


End file.
